DETAILED PICS OF PENETRATION...

Copyright relevant owner

Get outta here, ya dirty buggahs!  (H'm, maybe 'docking' would've been a better word?)  Received my new Corgi Thunderbird 5 today (yes, on a Sunday - DHL) and so I dug out my TB3 to connect it with International Rescue's Space Station.  Doesn't it look great - or perhaps I should say don't they look great?!  Incidentally, I just grabbed the first Corgi TB3 from several years back for the photos as the new super-detailed one is in its box in a cupboard and I couldn't be bothered moving things to get to it.  I'll maybe take new photos later.

And for all those who came here expecting something else, you should be ashamed of yourselves.  What would your mothers have thunk?!

Did any of you watch Thunderbirds as a kid?  If so, what did you think of it?  Was it the best series Gerry Anderson ever did - or did you prefer another one of his various TV puppet shows?  And do any other Crivs collect these great Corgi collectables?  Tell all in our comments section. 

Below - 'penetration' - all done in the best possible taste.

THREE ADVENTURERS TOGETHER - JUST OVER TWO YEARS APART...

Regular readers will perhaps remember when I published a post featuring photos of my time in Portsmouth in 1985.  I first visited the place in 1978 to be Best Man at a friend's wedding, then returned in 1981 at his invitation for a longer stay, though another friend (both were known to one another) came with me 'cos he fancied a break.  (Not that I invited him.)  The three of us had hung about together back home when we were younger and the pair were my oldest and closest pals, though that was destined to end before too long.

The two photos above are of Saint Mary's Church in Fratton, Portsmouth, the first taken in 1978, the second in 1981.  During my stay in 1985, I stayed in Shearer Road not far behind the church but never thought to gain access and explore its interiors, though I've since seen inside via images on the Internet.  The main doors were a perfect backdrop for photo opportunities and that's me below in 1981, pic taken by Joe on my Hanimex 110 TF camera.  Not a great snap, but 110 mm was never the best medium for photography.

Same site, but the photo below was taken in 1978 on my Prinz 110 camera (Dixon's own brand) and features the late Alan Bowie, who was in the Royal Navy at the time.  For some reason it never occurred to me then to get him to take my photograph in the same spot, but I remedied that in 1981 when I was down there with another pal (the third member of 'The Adventurers'), who is also 'late', in that he passed away around a month ago.

And that's him below - Joe Beattie, who for some reason has adopted what seems to me to be a slightly 'girlish' pose - it certainly isn't 'Jack Kirby', is it?  Anyway, three friends in the same spot, but not all at the same time, there being just over two years between the pics of Alan and Joe.  Not much to this post, admittedly, just pure self-indulgent reminiscing, but I thought it a rather nice sentiment to reunite all three friends in the same location for one last time.

HOUSE Of MYSTERY C-23 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright DC COMICS

Here's a nice 'little' item I bought myself recently - a facsimile of DC's Limited Collectors' Edition C-23, The House Of Mystery.  I never owned the original back in the '70s, and even though these 'facsimiles' aren't always exact replicas in every detail (i.e. colour, image size, etc.), they're pretty nice to have in their own right.  Anyway, rather than subject you all to my weary wittering, I'll just show you some of the contents, eh?  You'd like that, you say?  Very well - here you are then.  Don't say I never listen to you.  And please feel free to leave a comment.

(There's a bit of a ripple on some pages due to the fact they're so large and because I didn't want to lean too hard on them while scanning in case I creased the spine by trying to flatten them out.)

YOU'RE SPOILING US, MISTER AMBASSADOR...

Copyright relevant owner

Saw this book from 2010 in the window of a charity shop today, going for only £6 - so I snapped it up immediately.  If you know your comics you'll already be aware who Jerry Robinson is without me having to tell you, so I'll settle for showing you some images from the book.  Enjoy!  Oh, and tell your fellow Crivvies what the best bargain is you've ever bought from a charity shop or jumble sale.  Go on, you're allowed to boast about your good fortune from time-to-time.

(And award yourself a 'no-no prize' if you know which TV ad inspired this post's title.)

MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES - REVEALED...

Copyright relevant owner

Here's a great book from 2011 which I only recently learned about when I saw it on Super Stuff in the Bronze Age blog (see sidebar).  There's not a lot of reading in it as it's only got 156 pages (not counting covers and endpapers), but there seems more to it as it's printed on high-quality thick paper within hardback covers, and, anyway, it's the pictures that make this book worth having.  Remember all those mail-order ads you used to see in US comics as a kid or teen that made you wish you lived in America?  They're here in this volume along with photos of the actual items themselves, and, trust me, if you still have a sense of envy about what our Stateside cousins had access to that we didn't, this book will likely knock it out of you pretty quickly.

Remember X-Ray Spex?  How they got away with that protruding nipple on the backing card is beyond me, but there it is to remind you to replace that broken coat-hook in the hall.  Some years ago I managed to buy a pair (of spex, not nipples), but without such daring and tantalising packaging, and they're as disappointing as you could imagine if you thought they'd really allow you to perv at women.  Actually, the ones I got were called X-Ray Gogs, but they 'worked' in the same way - as in not at all.  Surely it's well-past time for somebody to create an operational pair.  (Again, X-Ray Spex, not nipples - the latter have been available for a good long while now.)

Then there was the Polaris Nuclear Sub (above) - what boy wouldn't have loved to own one of these?  If it had been as impressive as they illustration led you to believe, that is.  But check out the photo - it was essentially a cardboard box that would've collapsed over you if you took it outside and it rained.  Maybe, if you were an imaginative child, you could've pretended there'd been a radiation leak and the sub had melted.   Well, you get what you pay for I suppose, eh?  There was also a Jet "Rocket" Space Ship for those who were more interested in exploring the 'final frontier' (in their imagination) than the ocean floor.

The 6-Foot Monster-Size Monsters posters actually look quite good - I wouldn't have minded owning them when I was a boy - or now, in fact.  However, compare the over-sized 'bolts' on the poster to the ad itself.  As all true Frankenstein fans know, they weren't bolts, they were electrodes and nowhere near as big.  To me, this looks like a clumsy touch-up job to accentuate their appearance and it detracts from the overall effect.  One thing that bugs me about the pic is that the posters are partially concealed by the 'wrappers', and I'd have preferred to see Frankie and Dracula in all their unobscured glory.  Why do designers of such books often do this?  I just wish they'd leave well enough alone - it's so annoying when they don't.

And let's not forget the famous Sea-Monkeys/Horses, above.  Anyway, read the spiel on the back cover and decide whether this is a book you'd like.  It's now out of print and therefore pretty pricey on eBay, though as it seems readily available, I consider some of the sellers' high asking prices a little optimistic.  It is a nice book though, and it's good to finally see photos of what you'd have wasted your pocket-money on had the items featured within been readily available in Britain.  Take consolation from the fact that you were likely spared immense disappointment in most cases.  Incidentally, Crivs, there are luminous aspects to the front and back covers, but I'll leave you to explore that feature for yourselves, should you decide to buy a copy.

The TITANS #1 - BELATED 50th ANNIVERSARY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

"I'm late, I'm late. for a very important date...", but I got here in the end.  Back in October, regular commenter CJ reminded me of the then-upcoming 50th Anniversary of Marvel UK's weekly, The Titans.  I told him I'd likely do a post about it - then promptly forgot!  He reminded me that I'd forgotten when nothing relating to it appeared on the blog and I said it wasn't yet too late - then forgot again.  (My memory's shocking these days - and getting worse by the day.)

However, today I was going through a folder of comics and found my actual original Titans issue from 1975 and decided "Now is the time!", belated as it may be.  So, here for your pulsating and palpitating peepers, are some iconic images from that classic UK weekly from so long ago.  The comic is in better condition than I am after 50 years, which is quite disconcerting, but at least I'm still here, even though quite a number of people I once knew are sadly no longer around.

The Titans was an odd comic in that it was published in what was called a 'landscape' format, which allowed two reduced pages from a US comic to be printed side-by-side per UK page.  Basically, it was just turned on its side and stapled through its repositioned spine, but it seemed to be popular with readers as it gave twice the comics content for the page count.  The UK Spider-Man comic followed suit for a while, but that's maybe a post for another day.

Meantime, I hope CJ and you Crivs enjoy looking back to more than 50 years ago.  (You'd better, 'cos it took me ages to scan and clean up the images for your perusal.)  Incidentally, note the free poster, which hasn't been removed from the spine in all the time I've owned the comic.  I think I bought two issues to hang one poster on my wall and I still have it.  Or maybe it's one I bought as a back issue years later, but I can't recall now.  (Told you my memory was terrible.)

Comments welcome - where are you, CJ?

******

Incidentally, somewhere on the blog is a series of cover galleries of every Titans comic ever produced (including a never-published fan-created 'final' ish) if you feel like tracking them down.  Maybe I should do an 'Omnibus' post on them - or have I already done so?  And, in 1980, there was a monthly Titans Pocket Book lasting 13 issues, whose covers are also on the blog.

And for those who'd like to see the full poster, look below.

The CHERILEA CAPED CRUSADERS...

BATMAN & ROBIN copyright DC COMICS

Sometimes I buy things more than once, a recent example being the above Cherilea Batman & Robin figures sold exclusively in Woolworth's in the '60s.  In the above photo, I've retouched the paint on Robin, though I've still to fully attend to Batman (done the face).  (The seller's photo below shows them as they arrived on Wednesday.)  The third photo is of the ones I purchased 11 years ago, Batman in September and Robin in November of 2014, again retouched at the time.

So why buy them again I hear you ask.  The price was an absolute steal (for me) as the duo cost less than what some sellers ask for them individually in far worse condition.  I just couldn't pass them up and, besides, it's always nice to have spares.  Did any of you have the Cherilea Caped Crusaders when you were a '60s kid, Crivs?  Share your reminiscences in the comments section. 

BATMAN #1 Golden Age FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright DC COMICS

So what's the reason?  Is it down to different editors being in charge of each individual issue, or is it lack of cooperation or just sheer incompetence?  To what do I refer?  I'll tell you.  When DC issued a Golden Age-sized facsimile of Detective Comics #27 a little while ago, it looked as though it had been scanned from an original published issue and appeared 'old'.  Yet when they released Action Comics #1 and Superman #1 Golden Age-sized facsimiles in the same style, they sourced the contents from negatives of the standard-sized replicas, which meant the page images had margins around them which were far too wide and looked white and new.

Now, with Batman, the facsimile of the first issue is the same as Detective Comics #27, except for the margins and gutters being cleaner and whiter with no sign of age, and the page images weren't scanned from an actual published 1940 issue.  (With the possible exception of some of the ads.)  The result is far superior and I can't help but wish that DC will redo the other three mags to the same specifications.  When Ralph Waldo Emerson said "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...", he didn't mean all consistency was foolish, only that of the foolish kind, so consistency between those four essential collectables should be a given.

However, despite my customary moan, this latest addition to my vast collection is very welcome.  Why don't you buy one for yourselves, Crivvies, if you haven't already?  Note the cover claims the comic contains 'all brand-new adventures', but the recap of the Batman's origin is an amended reprint from an earlier number of Detective Comics (#3, I think).

******

(Please note that the comics mentioned in this post are not standard-sized facsimiles, but a larger 'Golden Age' size, closer to that of the originals.)

The ADVENTURERS Vs. The THREE NEDETTES...

Joe sometime in the '80s (so I'm told)

On at least a couple of occasions now, I've mentioned my collective and fanciful name for myself and two of my pals when we were teens - The Adventurers.  I'd first met the pair when I was 7 years of age, and their names were Alan Bowie and Joseph Beattie, both now deceased.  Alan died back on January 10th 2013 and Joe a mere three weeks ago on October 21st.  To give you a taste of the kind of things we got up to, the following repost is typical, though Alan wasn't involved in this escapade, it was one of Joe's pals called Arthur Balmer.  Strictly speaking, he wasn't an 'official' Adventurer (nor were me or Joe, come to think of it, as I hadn't yet coined the name), but he was the one who was present at the time so he was sort of filling in for our absent friend.  Hope you enjoy this absolutely true pre-teen tale.

****** 

It was around 1970/'71, and myself and two pals were leaning on a railing outside a row of apartments above the neighbourhood shops.  Passing below were three thuggish, slightly older females who hung around with the local neds.   They glared up at us.  "Whit ur you f*ckin' lookin' at?" they trilled in their delicate, girlish way (sarcasm).  "Dunno - the label's fallen off!" I yelled back.  The gauntlet had been thrown down, and the trio of nasty nedettes responded by mounting the stairway, their Doc Martins pounding the steps in pursuit of ourselves.

I say 'pursuit' because the moment I opened my gob, the other two legged it and I followed.  These girls were bigger and older than us, and as hard as nails.  Having been brought up never to hit a 'girl', we'd have been at a distinct disadvantage trying to defend ourselves against the furious assault that was surely forthcoming.  We fled past the front of the apartments towards the door to the interior stairway which led down to the shops below.

We reached the bottom door with a sigh of relief.  Once we were through that exit, our safety was secure and an inglorious fate would be avoided.  Alas, 'twas not to be - the door was locked, being early evening, and that avenue to freedom was denied us.  We considered going back up the stairs to the first floor offices above the shops and below the apartments, and using the corridor leading to the library to make our escape.  Too late!  We heard the 'girls' on the steps and realized discovery was imminent.  What to do?

Then I had a brainwave!  The bottom flight of stairs wasn't closed off, allowing us to seek shelter under them, so I beckoned my comrades to conceal themselves as I did likewise.  We bunched together tightly, as the merest glance under the stairway would've revealed our presence, and tried hard not to make a noise.  The nedettes pushed and pulled at the locked door, then grunted in frustrated rage.  "They must've got out on the first floor!" one snorted.  We expected them to return to the upper levels again, but they plonked themselves down on the steps above us and each lit up a cigarette.

We moved not a muscle and feared even to breathe, lest we betray ourselves.  After a seeming eternity (but was actually only a couple of minutes or so), they ascended the stairs and made their exit, amidst much muttering and detailed descriptions of what damage they'd inflict if they saw us.  We stayed rigid for a few moments longer, but once their voices were no longer audible, we exhaled a collective sigh of relief.  What a narrow escape and we knew it.  I can't recall any other moment in my life when I felt more alive, every sense attuned to my surroundings, and I'm sure my two friends felt the same.  (I wonder if they even remember it now?)

Even today, I think back to that moment and recall how I felt at the time; the excitement, the exhilaration, the fear, and, of course, the sheer relief and gratitude at having survived a precarious predicament unscathed.  It was like something from a 3 Investigators book or a Mission Impossible episode - a truly thrilling moment that lives on forever in my mind, and reminds me that, once, my life was more than the uneventful series of events that it is now.  I felt like James Bond, even though, at that time, I'd not yet seen a Bond film.  However, I knew that anyone who had a real car like my Corgi Toys Aston Martin must be a cool guy in the face of danger - much like myself, in fact (he said, modestly), as the tale I've just related surely testifies.

Okay, so, technically, we ran away from three girls - but that's only because we didn't want to have to hurt them.  (Well, that's my story and I'm darn well sticking to it.  Wanna argue?)

Ever been in a similar situation?  Then let's hear all about it in the comments section, o cool Criv-ites.  Spill the beans!

(Originally posted Tuesday 17th November 2015.)

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH (Again... Well, Do Ya Blame Me?)

Madeline went down so well

(please, no smut) last time, I thought

I'd treat you to a return visit from her.

I reckon she'll be showing up again

before you Crivvies know it.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH...

Magnificent Madeline Smith sizzles

as her simply sensuous self, who's certain to

make all mere males go weak at the knees.  If

there are any women out there who look like

Maddie and go for decrepit old f*rties like

 me, then get in touch - before I croak.